Food for Thought with Alex Bielak - A Slice Off the Old Block

A slice off the old Block

A month or so ago, a cooking buddy gave me the heads up about a new place in Burlington I had to visit. Thanks Chris!

Barely into its third month of business, the Block Company’s website is as full of promise as the newish John Street store. The brainchild of restaurant business veteran, Troy Smith, the narrow shop features a refrigerated case containing an enticing array of cured meats and premium cheese.

Smith’s friend, Chef Joshua Ross, is lending a helping hand to get the business off the ground. He says “It’s all about the best of the best, so the public can have access to restaurant quality charcuterie and special cheeses.” The latter are mainly local artisanal offerings, including great ones from the Upper Canada Cheese Company in Lincoln, New Hamburg’s Mountainoak and Gunn’s Hill in Woodstock. There are also international gems like the sumptuous – and mortgage-worthy – Truffle Sottocenere from Italy, among others.

Smith says “My charcuterie and cheese is forever changing, hence why I don’t have an online menu. We have a community board here at the shop where locals make a list of things they would like to

Polling for Numbers

Policy by polling is a very slippery slope and resorting to it to inform the LRT debate is more a reflection of desperation than anything else. 

It seems that some politicians are investing in an expected "ah ha" moment that would fall out of the poll. Let's assume that 80% of the people polled felt LRT was a great idea. Or that 80% felt it was a terrible idea. What does it really tell us, and should we hang this decision on a poll?

We suspect that what all sides of the equation would agree on, is that LRT is a big project; one that is rife with layers of complexity. That inofitself is not sufficient to determine its fate. Many projects are by nature, complex. 

And so after years of consideration, votes, information packages, debates,briefings and the like, are we to believe that a poll of 2100 people no less, could help tip the balance?

Polls are useful tools and they have a time and place. Effective community input is a critical component of any endeavor, and input on the LRT project, if anything, has been abundant and spirited.  

We hope the poll is administered as effectively as possible and its results beyond dispute. But even so, what will it prove and what does it say about Hamilton's ability to make appropriate decisions?